CYBERJAYA, Jan 12 (Bernama) — The sites and designs for schools to be built in future, particularly in the east coast states, will be scrutinised thoroughly as a preparation to face the floods, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
This was important because the schools in the east coast were frequently hit by floods at the end of the year besides being used as evacuation centres for residents affected by the floods, he said.
“This (recent flood) was rather a bitter experience for us. That’s why we need to study the site and design of the schools to be built because besides being an educational centre, the schools also bear a burden during the flood season.
“The states in the east coast experience the flood each year, but the degree of destruction caused by the flood varies each year,” said Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, at a media conference after making an observation on the first day of schooling for the 2015 session at Sekolah Kebangsaan Cyberjaya and Sekolah Menengah Cyberjaya, here Monday.
He said that among the designs that might be studied was the location of the laboratories and the computer rooms which were mostly located on the ground floor of the school buildings.
“When the flood occurs, it will be difficult to move these equipment to classrooms on the upper floors which cause the equipment to be spoilt and the schools incurring major losses.
“It maybe better to locate the laboratories and computer rooms on the first floor or higher,” Muhyiddin said.
He said the government would also study the possibility of using materials such as durable plastics or steel for chairs and desks for schools in the east coast to reduce damage costs due to the floods.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the use of materials such as plastics and steel was also cheaper in terms of cost while at the same time they were easier to make compared to wooden materials.
“Maybe the states in the east coast cannot use wooden desks and chairs because if the flood occurs, the equipment cannot be used after they are dried,” Muhyiddin said.
Meanwhile, Muhyiddin said the results of the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2014 examinations would still be announced on March 3 despite the delay in the marking process of the answer papers due to the floods.
“There was no report on the SPM answer papers being spoilt by the recent flood, what happened was merely a slight delay in checking the answers,” he said.
— BERNAMA
